Expat Chronicles

Expat Chronicles is now on Substack 🌎 Real talk on the Expat Life: the wins, the headaches, & the raw truth to life in LATAM Link here: @expatchronicles" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@expatchronicl…

In Latin America, you have little rivalries between countries 🌎 An example is the argument between Peru & Chile over the drink Pisco Sour Is the drink Peruvian or Chilean? 🤔

Bogotá, Colombia in the 1980s 🇨🇴

When people think of Peru, they think of Machu Picchu 🇵🇪 But there's way more archaeological gems Such as the Caral-Supe Which is the earliest known complex society in the Americas 🌎

When gringos think of Latin American food, they often fail to discuss the soups There's a variety of soups in LATAM that aren't bad Ever tried sancocho? 😋

While other expats try to sell you the Dream of Latin America, I give a more nuanced take: the good AND the bad 🔥 Here's some reasons I wrote for why Latin America might not be for you Click here to find out 👉 open.substack.com/pub/expatchron…

@Scotian82 Looks good! 👍

@ExpatChron I had ajiaco in 🇨🇦 last night 🇨🇴😛

One of my more popular blog posts is about how Colombian food SUCKS 🤢 During my early days in Colombia, I was not a fan of arepas, patacones and pandebono. Flavorless and bland 😴 And Colombian hot dogs with that fake ketchup? No thanks. But over the years, I’ve come around to realizing Colombia does have some good dishes 🇨🇴 Such as bandeja paisa, ajiaco, lechona, Pacific fish, and especially the fruit. Colombia is insanely biodiverse, so the exotic fruits are awesome. You have to try them all 👍 Overall? 🤔 It has some solid dishes but it’s still nowhere near the Latin American heavyweights like Peru or Mexico. I totally get why many expats find it too bland when compared to neighboring countries But when you spend enough time there, you'll find some decent food 💯

@TheLatamGuy Ridiculous Needs 3 planks at minimum!

Construction safety standards in Latin America: standing on two planks instead of just one

I enjoy a good ajiaco 😋 Ajiaco is Bogotá’s signature regional dish A hearty soup made with chicken, potatoes, and corn, traditionally accompanied by a side of rice and sliced avocado. Stir all the sides right into the soup for the full experience. My favorite places were those just a block away from Plaza Bolívar in the downtown area.

@ExpatChron I like the soups & chowders 😛🇨🇴🔥

@oublinkerbro @Iberianamerica So true Venezuelan Arepas > Colombian "arepas"

@ExpatChron @Iberianamerica Colombian arepas are mid, Venezuelan arepas are much better.

It's a heated debate 🔥 300 people have chimed in with comments on that article Most of them agree: Colombian food mostly SUCKS Do you agree? Here's the article expat-chronicles.com/2014/07/30/col…

@Scotian82 How things never change!

@ExpatChron I took this video at 3am from my hotel on calle 53 & 13 🤯🇨🇴🔪😂

Chapinero of Bogota, Colombia 🇨🇴 Over a decade ago, I used to spend time in this neighborhood Interesting to see how it is now Back in my day, Chapinero was a solid middle-class neighborhood. The buffer zone between the ghetto and money. It’s not really bad, but not great either. Just wildly diverse. In a few blocks you’d see gays, punks, metalheads, skinheads, hip-hoppers, skaters, suits, bums, drunks, and junkies. Every vice was right outside my door: bars, liquor stores, weed, coke, brothels, and casinos. I smelled weed daily Brothel flyers got shoved in my face along Caracas and Kr 13 And people drank in the streets, plazas, and Hippies Park nonstop. On top of that, it’s a big retail hub. The place to buy pretty much anything. Was an interesting place 💯

The Danger expats will put themselves in to get "content" while traveling 👇 Dude running for his life while filming in Santa Fe, Bogota 🇨🇴

"Stop calling yourself an expat. You're an Immigrant 😡" Having lived as an expat in Latin America for a decade, I've heard this argument countless time Especially as I run a blog called EXPAT Chronicles ✍️ One of my earliest thoughts was that the difference between expats and immigrants is economics Expats usually move from rich countries to poorer ones for lifestyle, retirement, or adventure while keeping a high standard of living 🤑 Immigrants move from poor countries to rich ones chasing better wages, often doing lower-skilled work👷‍♂️ Expats are basically a subset of immigrants. In contrast, critics who hate the word expat will say it's about race "Expats are White. Immigrants are Brown. Therefore, the word Expat is racist because expats don't want to be called immigrants" However, the “it’s racist” take is lazy 😴 Class and opportunity explain way more than skin color Think about it like this 👇 If a black American retires in South America, is he called an expat? Yes. Are the millions of Russians and Polish in the United States and England called expats? Or Ukranians escaping the war? No. In short, the difference is primarily economics 💯

It's always ironic when people get upset about Americans calling ourselves American 🇺🇸 In my years living in Latin America, locals have called me "American" or asked if I was from America. But I also get her point. Latin American countries are part of the Americas, so the term could technically apply to them too. But it's a pointless thing to police. Almost no Latin Americans without dual citizenship actually calls themselves "American" in that sense. And words can have multiple, context-specific meanings So by her own logic, US Americans are even more "American" than most Latin Americans are We fit both definitions We are Americans from the US AND Americans from the Americas While most Latin Americans are just "American" in that they're from the Americas 🌎

@Scotian82 Nice photos!

Chapinero Street Art Bogota, Colombia 🇨🇴

@ExpatChron If you haven’t been scope’d, have youbreally experienced 🇨🇴😆 J/k mucho ojo gringo bros 😬

Expats getting drugged in Colombia is a never-ending occurrence Gotta be safe out there 🇨🇴

The History of Peruvian Ceviche 🇵🇪